Become a grocery shopping master by learning from the best

Become a grocery shopping master by learning from the best

Where would Daniel Larusso of "The Karate Kid" be without Mr. Miyagi? He certainly wouldn't be delivering front kicks to the face of Cobra Kai's fighters at the All-Valley Karate Tournament.

Everyone needs a Mr. Miyagi - a soft-spoken master to show you the ropes in whatever you do. Saving big bucks while grocery shopping is no different. Here are a few tips from professional coupon-users and sale-finders. Use their advice to save the money you earn using paid online surveys while you're shopping.

Stack those coupons
You may pat yourself on the back when you remember to bring a single coupon to purchase an item, but that's all child's play to Angelique Campbell - a coupon pro spotlighted by ABC News. According to Campbell, one of the best ways to save big bucks is by stacking coupons. But what exactly is stacking?

"This is when you take a manufacturer coupon for a product and a store coupon for a product and use both of them in order to save even more money," Campell explained to the news source.

While most grocery stores won't allow you to use two store coupons or two manufacturer's coupons on an item, you can use one from both entities together for maximum savings.

Beware sneaky grocery store tactics
Reader's Digest talked to some food experts, analysts and supermarket employees to find out what tricky little tactics they use to make customers buy more, and what they found out may surprise you.

Martin Lindstrom, a marketing consultant and author of Brandwashed: Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy, shared several grocery store insights. Here are a few with some accompanying tips.

Grocery stores use slow music to encourage shoppers to linger and buy more, but you can fight this urge by wearing earbuds and pumping some of your favorite up-beat tunes.

Most shoppers don't know the average price of most items, which means they don't when or if they're getting a good deal while shopping. Always make a list with prices before entering the grocery store.

Grocery carts have actually gotten bigger in some places because studies show that shoppers with bigger carts buy more items. This can also be avoided by using a grocery list.

Don't fall for every sale or coupon
Campbell also explained that people are often duped into buy items just because they're offered at lower prices - even if they don't need the thing in the first place. Don't fall for it. At best, you'll use that item, but you still didn't need it. At worst, what you buy will go to waste, as will the money you used to buy it.

"Just because you have coupons for products doesn't make them a good deal," Campbell told ABC News. "Be sure to only buy products you can actually use (unless the coupon makes the item free and then you can donate them)."

Why sign up?

Nobody's voice is as powerful as yours. As a consumer, you are uniquely positioned to share your perspective with businesses, telling them what you expect in order for them to receive your money in a transaction. So, why not make money online by taking surveys that provide information to your favorite company?